Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not anything. Except my car. And this loose plotline. But thats about it. Yep, thats it. My car and my plot. *sob*
A/N: Thank you all for your reviews!! I love you!
Chapter Three: power shift
A week and two broken doors later Kyo and Uo were once again at home, squabbling over breakfast, bickering at lunch, bellowing through supper. They were back, and the rest of the family had the headaches to prove it. Except things hadn't quite settled back to the usual. Uo and Kyo spent more and more time on the roof, together and separately. Tohru and Yuki had frequented the woods, alone. Shigure just watched and smiled smugly at the little romantic things that floated past his door. Or were yelled through half the house. Depending on the couple you wanted to talk about. Uo had been living in the spare room since she had been having trouble paying her rent, and the room tended to spin with fury and heat. Darling feelings floating around, as well as the hostile love that was Kyo.
Uo climbed down the ladder and dropped to the floor with a quiet thud. Tohru stood there tray in hands, looking surprised to see the person she was looking for standing right in front of her. The gangster slid an arm around the ladder that led to the roof, and smiled at Tohru. Tohru had been on her way to bring food to the blonde. "You rang?" Uo drawled, relieving her friend of her burden.
"I was just worried, you weren't at dinner," the sunshiny girl didn't add the again even though it was true.
Uo shrugged and started eating, ignoring the silverware, "Sorry bout dat. Was tinkin'" she said around the mouthful of food.
"You're doing a lot of that these days." Yuki said, walking down the hall. "And all of it on the roof." his voice was like it always was, cold.
Uo swallowed "You gotta point?" the gangster asked, arching a fine eyebrow. "Or are you just running that pretty little mouth of yours?" she watched him bristle and smiled on the inside. It was a game with her, making him growl like that. Her and Kyo had a bet running on who would push him to strangle one of them first.
"What's going on between you and Kyo?" Tohru asked suddenly.
Uo stood, an apple in one hand, and a smirk on her face. Walking past Yuki she pointed a slim finger back at the girl, "That, is none of you business."
"So there is something!" Yuki said, but the tall blonde was already wandering down the stairs at the far end on the hall. His eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead with an almost audible snap. Tohru looked a little worried too, but only because she knew the pair. They lived fast. Uo had always lived that way, Kyo had been more recent, but he had picked it up rapidly. The Yankee was so bad that when Shigure had asked her if she smoked she had replied, "You name it, I've done it," and it wasn't a lie.
Tohru picked up her tray and headed back to the kitchen. She worried about them in an emotional way. They would become another link in a long (if not unending) chain of emotional ruination. They broke people's hearts, and they liked it. Her normally bright face was darkened slightly by her thoughts. With her hands wrapped around the handles of the tray she entered the highly illuminated kitchen. "You don't think that they're...." she asked Yuki, who stood behind her.
He wrapped an arm around her waist. "I don't know," he whispered. "But I'd assume they are. Them being the people that they are." He slid his hand across her stomach, making her heart race.
Shigure walked in, "Tohru, Tohru what's for breakfast?" he asked, eyes half shut.
"I think you mean dinner." Yuki said, not moving. She was the only thing he wasn't going to move about. "It's the middle of the evening, you slept through dinner." he drawled.
Blinking the writer wandered farther into the room, "Oh the inhumanity!"
Tohru smiled over her shoulder at him, "I'd be happy to make you something though."
"Oh sweet beauty that is Tohru. You are my sun in this desolate place." Shigure said, kissing the girls hand, with the air of a master Player. Yuki growled at him. Tohru slid out of his arms and started to fix the author a dinner. Or breakfast, as the case may be. Yuki stood watching the love of his life, cooking diner and smiled. He couldn't wait for the sixteenth.
Uo walked into Kyo's room, not bothering to knock, and found him stretched out, shirtless, staring at his ceiling, the cast still affixed to his leg. The door closed with a quite snap and leaning against the door she looked him over. He was gorgeous even with the bandages around his abs. She shook her head, blonde hair glittering. "Sorry I took the roof." she said, smiling. He half rolled over to look at her.
"That's fine. I hadn't named all the ceiling tiles yet." Kyo tapped a finger against the bed and Uo walked over to him. Tugging her down, Kyo kissed her hard. "Do you have any idea how bad I wanted that." he whispered, lips brushing against hers. Uo's stomach tightened into a solid knot of want as she nodded. Oh how she knew. "Now what do you want to do about it?" he said, sliding a finger under her bra-strap.
"Stop." she said, scooting back then stood. "Don't make me want you." she whispered.
Kyo propped himself up on his elbow. "You lost me." he said, his red hair falling into his eyes.
The Yankee sat back down, "I already want you."
Kyo just looked at her, confused as hell.
Uo was at a loss for words, How could she tell him that she was in like with him, when she knew that he was still in love with her best friend. He smiled at her, and slid his fingers through her hair. "I don't understand you, but you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
Uo gave up on explanations and pressed a kiss to his smiling lips. His arms slid around her and he leaned back into the pillows, cradling her against his chest. Uo's hands slid into his hair, her fingers twinning there as Kyo flicked the button on her jeans. By this time basically the only thing in Uo's blonde head was Kyo, and all she really wanted was for him to fuck her right then and there. He was good at that sort of thing. Smirking Kyo slid a hand up her abs, smooth skin rippled under the touch as cotton shifted against the back of his hand. Desire was almost audible as he tugged her harder to him, Uo felt every muscle in her body scream for him, and Kyo knew exactly what he was doing to her.
Shigure opened the door silently and stood, half aghast at the situation. For a moment he just stood there, wondering what to do. The most tempting option was to go get his Polaroid and blackmail them later. The right thing to do would be to announce himself. It was a hard decision, and the dog took a moment to decide, all the while, watching the curves of Uo's body. The decision was made for him when the sound of a thin whimper came floating from the general direction of the pair.
Shigure sent them a sly look. "Am I interrupting something?"
Glares went flying at the speed of sound, and Shigure giggled.
The pair went flying, Uo hit the far wall with an audible thump and Kyo fell out of his bed, though the floor did a marvelous job of breaking his fall. "Sorry to break up the party kids, but Miss Honda is looking for you." the author chuckled, "Nice panties by the way Uo. Blue is really your color." Two heavy objects flew at his head about this moment, forcing the man to lean back to avoid being hit. "I'm hurt!" he exclaimed. "Carry on." he laughed and scurried down the hall. The lovers looked at each other for a moment and shrugged, neither had a clue as to what Tohru wanted. Uo walked back around the bed to help her fallen neko to his feet. Kyo pulled the blonde down to him and kissed her, long hard and passionately, 'til she was breathless with it. Then let her help him up. "Might as well see what Tohru wants." he muttered, and pressed a kiss to her throat. He couldn't keep his hands off her when they were alone. Uo leaned away from him and handed him his crutches. Slipping silently out the door, she scolded herself mentally. To think that he love her was ridiculous, he had better things to do than to waste emotional energy on her. The only time either of them had said the dreaded "l word" was right after sex. And everyone knows that that never counts. With a sigh she started down the stairs, looking back only long enough to catch a glimpse of Kyo pulling a shirt on. They would meet Tohru, but separately, even if they were in the room together. The Yankee sighed, and put aside thoughts of love, and instead focused on what Tohru might want to see them for.
Tohru was standing very stilly in the dining room, two of her best friends, she just couldn't believe it really, almost couldn't stand it. She loved them both so much that seeing them together was breaking her heart. They were so hard on the emotional aspects of life; she just didn't want one of them to end up heart broken. And she knew one of them would. Uo walked in, her t-shirt clung to her like a second skin, black as coal against the paleness of her hair. Her ragged jeans scraped against the floors with a faint whoosh, the pad of bare feet nearly silent. Tohru smiled at her, and the blonde sent back a mischievous grin. "What's this all about?" Tohru laughed softly at the bluntness that surrounded her friend.
"Wait, for Kyo." Tohru whispered, and Uo shrugged. Whether or not Kyo was there made no difference to her, or at least that was what she was going to tell herself. Kyo wandered in, as if on cue, his crutches making a distinctive clack, clack, even though the floor was carpeted.
"You ladies talking about me?" he asked, slipping a little charm into his voice. He had gotten good at that too. The neko had become a real ladies man.
"Don't get cocky Orange-top!" Uo barked, flopping down next to the table.
He stood there looking at the pair, with that awkward smile still on his face. "Fine fine. You wanted to see me?" he asked smiling at the brunette.
Tohru blushed slightly, "I just," she broke off, "I just want to make sure neither one of you gets hurt. I love you both so much." this time it was her voice that broke, Uo stood and hugged the girl tight to her.
"Oh sweetie." she whispered, "don't worry. There's nothing to worry about." she was looking over Tohru's shoulder at Kyo and he saw the twinkle of a tear in her eye. "Its alright love. Its alright." Tohru laughed softly into the cotton of her friend's shirt.
"I couldn't stand it if you hurt each other." she said softly, and this time it was Uo's turn to chuckle.
"Dear heart, we hurt each other everyday."
Kyo walked over and laid a hand on Tohru's shoulder, "And I have the scares to prove it." he muttered, making the naïve girl between them laugh. His cinnamon eyes met sparkling green ones over their friend. They whispered of something untouchable these green eyes did, and it both spooked and enticed him. Uo was hiding something from him, and he could see it there, and he had the suspicion that it was the same thing he hid from her. They stood there a moment longer, merely gazing at each other.
Tohru smiled waveringly and dried her eyes, Uo smiled softly at her friend, and Kyo nodded slightly. "Oh dear. I need to get dinner started." Tohru said suddenly, slipping off quickly to the kitchen to use her talents. Uo and Kyo just stood there looking at each other. With a smile and a nod they went their separate ways. Uo walked out the front door and Kyo headed up the stairs to the roof. Bright cinnamon eyes watched blonde hair disappear into the woods.
"Where are you going?" he asked her, watching her slip off. The sun dropped from the sky, and the moon rose, as if some invisible rope lashed them together and kept them apart. Like me and the Yankee, He thought wishing that she was here with him, and remembering the dozen times she'd been up here. Tohru and Yuki had gotten together, he had disappeared and she had started coming up here. Maybe she had missed him, or maybe she had just liked the view. He might never find out. The sun sank down setting the sky ablaze like hellfire and fury, and Tohru called him down to dinner. Kyo went down half unwillingly, wanting to sit on the roof till Uo came back. Wanting to watch her come back, wanting to stay with her on the roof all night. Tohru called again. "Coming." he half grumbled climbing down the ladder into the half darkness that was the house.
Tohru, Yuki, Shigure and Kyo sat around the low table. Silence had the room in its icy grip and didn't seem willing to let it go. Kyo's eyes kept flicking to the clock on the wall. They were almost done with dinner and Uo hadn't shown yet. Kyo was getting worried, Tohru was starting to fret, Yuki was trying to convince Tohru that everything was fine, and Shigure was eating and making sounds of contentment. "I'm done." Kyo said suddenly standing and taking his plate to the kitchen, the sound of his footsteps echoed up the stairs. They all knew he was headed up to the roof, and that he was worried. What none of them understood was why he was denying his feeling for the girl.
Shigure shook his head, "What those two need is a push in the right direction. They need to make a 'llllllooooooooooove connection.'" he drew out the word love till it was positively annoying, then Yuki smacked him, and he continued, "Seriously. They need somebody to shove them together. They need me."
Tohru smiled and began to clear the dishes, "I think we need to leave them alone. Let them work this out on there own." her voice was soft and sweet. And the two men just looked at her. "They need time, that's all. They're both so afraid of getting hurt that they can't just jump into this. Just leave them be, they'll straighten things out between them." she said, and was confident in it.
Uo didn't show up at the house the next morning or for the next few days. Tohru was use to this behavior, Uo sometimes went of by herself, and came back in a few days, a week tops. Kyo knew she did that too, but he was still worried, and angry. By the end of the second day he had stopped eating altogether. By the end of the third day he refused to come out of his room. By the end of the week Tohru was more worried about what Kyo was doing than where Uo was.
On the thirteenth Uo finally showed back up at the breakfast table, sitting there with a smug grin and a black eye. Tohru squeal and hugged the girl rocking her backward. Uo laughed, "Is there something to eat around here? I'm starving." Tohru just chuckled and went skipping of to the kitchen.
"Kyo Yuki Shigure!! Uo's home!!" the Yankee heard her friend yell, and three sets of footsteps on the stairs. Two dark brunettes and a redhead poked into the dining room. Kyo looked about to blow his stack, face redder than fire, and the flames of hell burning in his eyes. Yuki looked relieved, but more for the sack of the sanity of the family than for her personal safety. And Shigure promptly swept the tall blonde into a massive hug, making Kyo growl deep in his throat. Uo laughed, but it was forced and as he spun her, bright green eyes caught cinnamon ones and a promise to met him on the roof was exchanged. Kyo nodded and walked off, to wonder through the kitchen, snagging the milk carton from the fridge and making his way slowly to the roof, his crutches making their echoing clack clack against the flooring. Uo was practically force-fed breakfast, and as soon as she could she got to the roof.
"Hey." she said and sat down next to him. Silence stretched between them as they watched Yuki and Tohru leave for school. Kyo wasn't ready to go back, and Uo was reluctant to leave him. Their eyes were locked on the pair as they walked down the path. Kyo was jealous of Yuki, he had gotten everything he wanted. Uo was jealous too, but mostly because the brunette had Kyo's heart, and didn't even want it. Pride and vanity kept their lips sealed.
"So," Kyo broke the silence after Tohru and Yuki had disappeared into the woods. "Where were you?" he asked leaning back against the cool tiles. Uo was sitting cross legged, and leaned forward, resting an elbow against her knee and her chin resting on her palm.
"You never cared before. Why the sudden interest?" Uo asked, flicking her eyes back.
Kyo was looking straight at her. "We were worried." and sat up sharply, staring at the girl. "Damnit I was worried."
Uo ached to believe him, "I was just seeing some of my old friends, visiting some of the old haunts. That's all. Innocent fun." she said with a shrug.
"That black eye doesn't exactly support your story." he said, and ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face. "You went back to them didn't you."
She leaned over and kissed him softly. "That ain't your business Mac," she whispered.
Kyo caught her arm pressing hard, his fingers digging into her flesh; Uo grimaced trying hard not to whimper. Pulling his fingers away a scarlet stain blossomed across the white linen wrappings. An eyebrow arched as he looked at the blood that stained his fingertips. Uo grabbed her arm trying to hide the stain that was spreading. "That's not helping either." his voice was warming to anger, Uo could practically hear his blood pressure rising.
"It's nothing, just a scratch." Uo protested rapidly.
Kyo leaned back, "If it were just a scratch then you wouldn't be trying so damn hard to hide it?"
Uo glowered at him. "What do you want me to say?"
"If you were having troubles why didn't you tell me?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her.
"And you do what? I'm not Tohru. I don't need you to be forever protecting me. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." Uo growled at him shrugging off his concern.
"That's what I'm worried about." Kyo said, touching her face. "You taking care of yourself. Why don't you ever let down your guard?"
"Do you see this?" Uo growled trying to restrain the anger that was building in her chest, she was point at her black eye. "Do you? This is what I got the last time I let down my guard." her eyes were hard as she stared at him. "This is what I got when I moved out, when I joined and quit the gang, this is what I get when I drop my guard."
Kyo's forehead furrowed, "Why didn't you.."
"Tell you about it?" Uo laughed bitterly. "Tohru comes to you two for help. I've lived this long doing it my way, I'll go on doing it that way." she turned to look at him. "Safe your breath, and your strength, wait for Tohru to need a knight in shinning armor and rescue her." her voice was tense, and as soon as the words had left her mouth she was climbing off the roof with Kyo running after her, or as close as he would get for a while.
"Uo! Uo!" he called after her sliding down the ladder to hit the floor with a thud. She was walking down the stairs and he was fumbling for his crutches. "Uo! Damnit wait!" He was moving fast down the hall trying to catch up, but he was fighting an un-winnable battle. She was out the door just as he hit the entryway, "Uo! Stop! Come on! Wait up! Arisa!" but she was gone.
"Gods Damnit!" he yelled and put his fist through the door.
"Stop tearing my house apart Kyo!" Shigure said. "What's wrong? Did she leave you?"
"What the fuck would you know about it?" the hotheaded youth bellowed. The novelist wasn't so stupid, or so blind, that he couldn't see that Kyo was really bothered by all of this.
"Tell me what happened," the older man said, his voice serious for once.
Kyo stood there for minute, a battle raging in his eyes between his passion and his pride. Anger and Remorse duked it out, while Pain and Self-resolve clashed behind cinnamon orbs. Finally with a disgusted sigh he told the novelist. "We were up on the roof."
"No surprise there." Shigure mumbled and Kyo ignore him.
"We were up on the roof and I asked her where she'd been. Told her we, I, had been worried. She got........catlike." there was a thin bitter half grin on the redhead's lips. "Went all steel and lighter fluid on me. She refused to tell me about it, and went into this..." he fumbled for the word to describe what Arisa Uotani had said, "speech about her not needing help and that I should save it and wait till Tohru needed rescuing. She told me to be someone else bloody knight in shining armor. Only without the bloody. And now I'm here and she's who the fuck knows where." Kyo broke off, shaking his head, and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't figure what's gotten into her thick skull." he grumbled. Shigure just smiled that little smug smile of his, he knew. Uo was jealous of Tohru because...well, that was still up in the air.
"Come on, I'll make us some coffee. Don't worry about Uo she'll come around." Shigure said and wandered away from him.
Kyo stood for a long moment staring out the hole he had put in the door. "I hope so. Gods I hope."
A/N: Thank you all for your reviews!! I love you!
Chapter Three: power shift
A week and two broken doors later Kyo and Uo were once again at home, squabbling over breakfast, bickering at lunch, bellowing through supper. They were back, and the rest of the family had the headaches to prove it. Except things hadn't quite settled back to the usual. Uo and Kyo spent more and more time on the roof, together and separately. Tohru and Yuki had frequented the woods, alone. Shigure just watched and smiled smugly at the little romantic things that floated past his door. Or were yelled through half the house. Depending on the couple you wanted to talk about. Uo had been living in the spare room since she had been having trouble paying her rent, and the room tended to spin with fury and heat. Darling feelings floating around, as well as the hostile love that was Kyo.
Uo climbed down the ladder and dropped to the floor with a quiet thud. Tohru stood there tray in hands, looking surprised to see the person she was looking for standing right in front of her. The gangster slid an arm around the ladder that led to the roof, and smiled at Tohru. Tohru had been on her way to bring food to the blonde. "You rang?" Uo drawled, relieving her friend of her burden.
"I was just worried, you weren't at dinner," the sunshiny girl didn't add the again even though it was true.
Uo shrugged and started eating, ignoring the silverware, "Sorry bout dat. Was tinkin'" she said around the mouthful of food.
"You're doing a lot of that these days." Yuki said, walking down the hall. "And all of it on the roof." his voice was like it always was, cold.
Uo swallowed "You gotta point?" the gangster asked, arching a fine eyebrow. "Or are you just running that pretty little mouth of yours?" she watched him bristle and smiled on the inside. It was a game with her, making him growl like that. Her and Kyo had a bet running on who would push him to strangle one of them first.
"What's going on between you and Kyo?" Tohru asked suddenly.
Uo stood, an apple in one hand, and a smirk on her face. Walking past Yuki she pointed a slim finger back at the girl, "That, is none of you business."
"So there is something!" Yuki said, but the tall blonde was already wandering down the stairs at the far end on the hall. His eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead with an almost audible snap. Tohru looked a little worried too, but only because she knew the pair. They lived fast. Uo had always lived that way, Kyo had been more recent, but he had picked it up rapidly. The Yankee was so bad that when Shigure had asked her if she smoked she had replied, "You name it, I've done it," and it wasn't a lie.
Tohru picked up her tray and headed back to the kitchen. She worried about them in an emotional way. They would become another link in a long (if not unending) chain of emotional ruination. They broke people's hearts, and they liked it. Her normally bright face was darkened slightly by her thoughts. With her hands wrapped around the handles of the tray she entered the highly illuminated kitchen. "You don't think that they're...." she asked Yuki, who stood behind her.
He wrapped an arm around her waist. "I don't know," he whispered. "But I'd assume they are. Them being the people that they are." He slid his hand across her stomach, making her heart race.
Shigure walked in, "Tohru, Tohru what's for breakfast?" he asked, eyes half shut.
"I think you mean dinner." Yuki said, not moving. She was the only thing he wasn't going to move about. "It's the middle of the evening, you slept through dinner." he drawled.
Blinking the writer wandered farther into the room, "Oh the inhumanity!"
Tohru smiled over her shoulder at him, "I'd be happy to make you something though."
"Oh sweet beauty that is Tohru. You are my sun in this desolate place." Shigure said, kissing the girls hand, with the air of a master Player. Yuki growled at him. Tohru slid out of his arms and started to fix the author a dinner. Or breakfast, as the case may be. Yuki stood watching the love of his life, cooking diner and smiled. He couldn't wait for the sixteenth.
Uo walked into Kyo's room, not bothering to knock, and found him stretched out, shirtless, staring at his ceiling, the cast still affixed to his leg. The door closed with a quite snap and leaning against the door she looked him over. He was gorgeous even with the bandages around his abs. She shook her head, blonde hair glittering. "Sorry I took the roof." she said, smiling. He half rolled over to look at her.
"That's fine. I hadn't named all the ceiling tiles yet." Kyo tapped a finger against the bed and Uo walked over to him. Tugging her down, Kyo kissed her hard. "Do you have any idea how bad I wanted that." he whispered, lips brushing against hers. Uo's stomach tightened into a solid knot of want as she nodded. Oh how she knew. "Now what do you want to do about it?" he said, sliding a finger under her bra-strap.
"Stop." she said, scooting back then stood. "Don't make me want you." she whispered.
Kyo propped himself up on his elbow. "You lost me." he said, his red hair falling into his eyes.
The Yankee sat back down, "I already want you."
Kyo just looked at her, confused as hell.
Uo was at a loss for words, How could she tell him that she was in like with him, when she knew that he was still in love with her best friend. He smiled at her, and slid his fingers through her hair. "I don't understand you, but you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
Uo gave up on explanations and pressed a kiss to his smiling lips. His arms slid around her and he leaned back into the pillows, cradling her against his chest. Uo's hands slid into his hair, her fingers twinning there as Kyo flicked the button on her jeans. By this time basically the only thing in Uo's blonde head was Kyo, and all she really wanted was for him to fuck her right then and there. He was good at that sort of thing. Smirking Kyo slid a hand up her abs, smooth skin rippled under the touch as cotton shifted against the back of his hand. Desire was almost audible as he tugged her harder to him, Uo felt every muscle in her body scream for him, and Kyo knew exactly what he was doing to her.
Shigure opened the door silently and stood, half aghast at the situation. For a moment he just stood there, wondering what to do. The most tempting option was to go get his Polaroid and blackmail them later. The right thing to do would be to announce himself. It was a hard decision, and the dog took a moment to decide, all the while, watching the curves of Uo's body. The decision was made for him when the sound of a thin whimper came floating from the general direction of the pair.
Shigure sent them a sly look. "Am I interrupting something?"
Glares went flying at the speed of sound, and Shigure giggled.
The pair went flying, Uo hit the far wall with an audible thump and Kyo fell out of his bed, though the floor did a marvelous job of breaking his fall. "Sorry to break up the party kids, but Miss Honda is looking for you." the author chuckled, "Nice panties by the way Uo. Blue is really your color." Two heavy objects flew at his head about this moment, forcing the man to lean back to avoid being hit. "I'm hurt!" he exclaimed. "Carry on." he laughed and scurried down the hall. The lovers looked at each other for a moment and shrugged, neither had a clue as to what Tohru wanted. Uo walked back around the bed to help her fallen neko to his feet. Kyo pulled the blonde down to him and kissed her, long hard and passionately, 'til she was breathless with it. Then let her help him up. "Might as well see what Tohru wants." he muttered, and pressed a kiss to her throat. He couldn't keep his hands off her when they were alone. Uo leaned away from him and handed him his crutches. Slipping silently out the door, she scolded herself mentally. To think that he love her was ridiculous, he had better things to do than to waste emotional energy on her. The only time either of them had said the dreaded "l word" was right after sex. And everyone knows that that never counts. With a sigh she started down the stairs, looking back only long enough to catch a glimpse of Kyo pulling a shirt on. They would meet Tohru, but separately, even if they were in the room together. The Yankee sighed, and put aside thoughts of love, and instead focused on what Tohru might want to see them for.
Tohru was standing very stilly in the dining room, two of her best friends, she just couldn't believe it really, almost couldn't stand it. She loved them both so much that seeing them together was breaking her heart. They were so hard on the emotional aspects of life; she just didn't want one of them to end up heart broken. And she knew one of them would. Uo walked in, her t-shirt clung to her like a second skin, black as coal against the paleness of her hair. Her ragged jeans scraped against the floors with a faint whoosh, the pad of bare feet nearly silent. Tohru smiled at her, and the blonde sent back a mischievous grin. "What's this all about?" Tohru laughed softly at the bluntness that surrounded her friend.
"Wait, for Kyo." Tohru whispered, and Uo shrugged. Whether or not Kyo was there made no difference to her, or at least that was what she was going to tell herself. Kyo wandered in, as if on cue, his crutches making a distinctive clack, clack, even though the floor was carpeted.
"You ladies talking about me?" he asked, slipping a little charm into his voice. He had gotten good at that too. The neko had become a real ladies man.
"Don't get cocky Orange-top!" Uo barked, flopping down next to the table.
He stood there looking at the pair, with that awkward smile still on his face. "Fine fine. You wanted to see me?" he asked smiling at the brunette.
Tohru blushed slightly, "I just," she broke off, "I just want to make sure neither one of you gets hurt. I love you both so much." this time it was her voice that broke, Uo stood and hugged the girl tight to her.
"Oh sweetie." she whispered, "don't worry. There's nothing to worry about." she was looking over Tohru's shoulder at Kyo and he saw the twinkle of a tear in her eye. "Its alright love. Its alright." Tohru laughed softly into the cotton of her friend's shirt.
"I couldn't stand it if you hurt each other." she said softly, and this time it was Uo's turn to chuckle.
"Dear heart, we hurt each other everyday."
Kyo walked over and laid a hand on Tohru's shoulder, "And I have the scares to prove it." he muttered, making the naïve girl between them laugh. His cinnamon eyes met sparkling green ones over their friend. They whispered of something untouchable these green eyes did, and it both spooked and enticed him. Uo was hiding something from him, and he could see it there, and he had the suspicion that it was the same thing he hid from her. They stood there a moment longer, merely gazing at each other.
Tohru smiled waveringly and dried her eyes, Uo smiled softly at her friend, and Kyo nodded slightly. "Oh dear. I need to get dinner started." Tohru said suddenly, slipping off quickly to the kitchen to use her talents. Uo and Kyo just stood there looking at each other. With a smile and a nod they went their separate ways. Uo walked out the front door and Kyo headed up the stairs to the roof. Bright cinnamon eyes watched blonde hair disappear into the woods.
"Where are you going?" he asked her, watching her slip off. The sun dropped from the sky, and the moon rose, as if some invisible rope lashed them together and kept them apart. Like me and the Yankee, He thought wishing that she was here with him, and remembering the dozen times she'd been up here. Tohru and Yuki had gotten together, he had disappeared and she had started coming up here. Maybe she had missed him, or maybe she had just liked the view. He might never find out. The sun sank down setting the sky ablaze like hellfire and fury, and Tohru called him down to dinner. Kyo went down half unwillingly, wanting to sit on the roof till Uo came back. Wanting to watch her come back, wanting to stay with her on the roof all night. Tohru called again. "Coming." he half grumbled climbing down the ladder into the half darkness that was the house.
Tohru, Yuki, Shigure and Kyo sat around the low table. Silence had the room in its icy grip and didn't seem willing to let it go. Kyo's eyes kept flicking to the clock on the wall. They were almost done with dinner and Uo hadn't shown yet. Kyo was getting worried, Tohru was starting to fret, Yuki was trying to convince Tohru that everything was fine, and Shigure was eating and making sounds of contentment. "I'm done." Kyo said suddenly standing and taking his plate to the kitchen, the sound of his footsteps echoed up the stairs. They all knew he was headed up to the roof, and that he was worried. What none of them understood was why he was denying his feeling for the girl.
Shigure shook his head, "What those two need is a push in the right direction. They need to make a 'llllllooooooooooove connection.'" he drew out the word love till it was positively annoying, then Yuki smacked him, and he continued, "Seriously. They need somebody to shove them together. They need me."
Tohru smiled and began to clear the dishes, "I think we need to leave them alone. Let them work this out on there own." her voice was soft and sweet. And the two men just looked at her. "They need time, that's all. They're both so afraid of getting hurt that they can't just jump into this. Just leave them be, they'll straighten things out between them." she said, and was confident in it.
Uo didn't show up at the house the next morning or for the next few days. Tohru was use to this behavior, Uo sometimes went of by herself, and came back in a few days, a week tops. Kyo knew she did that too, but he was still worried, and angry. By the end of the second day he had stopped eating altogether. By the end of the third day he refused to come out of his room. By the end of the week Tohru was more worried about what Kyo was doing than where Uo was.
On the thirteenth Uo finally showed back up at the breakfast table, sitting there with a smug grin and a black eye. Tohru squeal and hugged the girl rocking her backward. Uo laughed, "Is there something to eat around here? I'm starving." Tohru just chuckled and went skipping of to the kitchen.
"Kyo Yuki Shigure!! Uo's home!!" the Yankee heard her friend yell, and three sets of footsteps on the stairs. Two dark brunettes and a redhead poked into the dining room. Kyo looked about to blow his stack, face redder than fire, and the flames of hell burning in his eyes. Yuki looked relieved, but more for the sack of the sanity of the family than for her personal safety. And Shigure promptly swept the tall blonde into a massive hug, making Kyo growl deep in his throat. Uo laughed, but it was forced and as he spun her, bright green eyes caught cinnamon ones and a promise to met him on the roof was exchanged. Kyo nodded and walked off, to wonder through the kitchen, snagging the milk carton from the fridge and making his way slowly to the roof, his crutches making their echoing clack clack against the flooring. Uo was practically force-fed breakfast, and as soon as she could she got to the roof.
"Hey." she said and sat down next to him. Silence stretched between them as they watched Yuki and Tohru leave for school. Kyo wasn't ready to go back, and Uo was reluctant to leave him. Their eyes were locked on the pair as they walked down the path. Kyo was jealous of Yuki, he had gotten everything he wanted. Uo was jealous too, but mostly because the brunette had Kyo's heart, and didn't even want it. Pride and vanity kept their lips sealed.
"So," Kyo broke the silence after Tohru and Yuki had disappeared into the woods. "Where were you?" he asked leaning back against the cool tiles. Uo was sitting cross legged, and leaned forward, resting an elbow against her knee and her chin resting on her palm.
"You never cared before. Why the sudden interest?" Uo asked, flicking her eyes back.
Kyo was looking straight at her. "We were worried." and sat up sharply, staring at the girl. "Damnit I was worried."
Uo ached to believe him, "I was just seeing some of my old friends, visiting some of the old haunts. That's all. Innocent fun." she said with a shrug.
"That black eye doesn't exactly support your story." he said, and ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face. "You went back to them didn't you."
She leaned over and kissed him softly. "That ain't your business Mac," she whispered.
Kyo caught her arm pressing hard, his fingers digging into her flesh; Uo grimaced trying hard not to whimper. Pulling his fingers away a scarlet stain blossomed across the white linen wrappings. An eyebrow arched as he looked at the blood that stained his fingertips. Uo grabbed her arm trying to hide the stain that was spreading. "That's not helping either." his voice was warming to anger, Uo could practically hear his blood pressure rising.
"It's nothing, just a scratch." Uo protested rapidly.
Kyo leaned back, "If it were just a scratch then you wouldn't be trying so damn hard to hide it?"
Uo glowered at him. "What do you want me to say?"
"If you were having troubles why didn't you tell me?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her.
"And you do what? I'm not Tohru. I don't need you to be forever protecting me. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." Uo growled at him shrugging off his concern.
"That's what I'm worried about." Kyo said, touching her face. "You taking care of yourself. Why don't you ever let down your guard?"
"Do you see this?" Uo growled trying to restrain the anger that was building in her chest, she was point at her black eye. "Do you? This is what I got the last time I let down my guard." her eyes were hard as she stared at him. "This is what I got when I moved out, when I joined and quit the gang, this is what I get when I drop my guard."
Kyo's forehead furrowed, "Why didn't you.."
"Tell you about it?" Uo laughed bitterly. "Tohru comes to you two for help. I've lived this long doing it my way, I'll go on doing it that way." she turned to look at him. "Safe your breath, and your strength, wait for Tohru to need a knight in shinning armor and rescue her." her voice was tense, and as soon as the words had left her mouth she was climbing off the roof with Kyo running after her, or as close as he would get for a while.
"Uo! Uo!" he called after her sliding down the ladder to hit the floor with a thud. She was walking down the stairs and he was fumbling for his crutches. "Uo! Damnit wait!" He was moving fast down the hall trying to catch up, but he was fighting an un-winnable battle. She was out the door just as he hit the entryway, "Uo! Stop! Come on! Wait up! Arisa!" but she was gone.
"Gods Damnit!" he yelled and put his fist through the door.
"Stop tearing my house apart Kyo!" Shigure said. "What's wrong? Did she leave you?"
"What the fuck would you know about it?" the hotheaded youth bellowed. The novelist wasn't so stupid, or so blind, that he couldn't see that Kyo was really bothered by all of this.
"Tell me what happened," the older man said, his voice serious for once.
Kyo stood there for minute, a battle raging in his eyes between his passion and his pride. Anger and Remorse duked it out, while Pain and Self-resolve clashed behind cinnamon orbs. Finally with a disgusted sigh he told the novelist. "We were up on the roof."
"No surprise there." Shigure mumbled and Kyo ignore him.
"We were up on the roof and I asked her where she'd been. Told her we, I, had been worried. She got........catlike." there was a thin bitter half grin on the redhead's lips. "Went all steel and lighter fluid on me. She refused to tell me about it, and went into this..." he fumbled for the word to describe what Arisa Uotani had said, "speech about her not needing help and that I should save it and wait till Tohru needed rescuing. She told me to be someone else bloody knight in shining armor. Only without the bloody. And now I'm here and she's who the fuck knows where." Kyo broke off, shaking his head, and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't figure what's gotten into her thick skull." he grumbled. Shigure just smiled that little smug smile of his, he knew. Uo was jealous of Tohru because...well, that was still up in the air.
"Come on, I'll make us some coffee. Don't worry about Uo she'll come around." Shigure said and wandered away from him.
Kyo stood for a long moment staring out the hole he had put in the door. "I hope so. Gods I hope."